


Do You Like Snakes?

by LlibLo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Also Other Animals, Brotherhood, But Mostly Snake, Canon-Typical Violence, End Game Alt Timeline Branch Explored, Gen, Happy Ending, Loki & Peter Parker Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Gets a Hug (Marvel), Loki's Redemption, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Shapeshifting, Snake!Loki, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wholesome, boop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27988506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LlibLo/pseuds/LlibLo
Summary: Time travel is a fickle thing. The Avengers accidently let Loki escape in one of the timelines though they leave that for the native Avengers to deal with. With the tesseract in hand, Loki makes and impulse request and finds himself in front of a Pet Shop. Having no where else to go, he hides among the Midgardian creatures. He never expected this path to end with him learning what he had been missing about the word 'Family.'Peter Parker was allowed to pick one animal to take home as a new friend. Out of all the animals, it was the pitch black, green eyed snake that caught his eye. Imagine his amazement when he got home to find out it could talk.
Relationships: Loki & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 53
Kudos: 408





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Only reason it's not rated G is because Fuck is used exactly three times.
> 
> Otherwise get ready for a nice wholesome story. :)
> 
> (Also this will have weekly updates! Enjoy!)

When the tesseract dropped in front of him, Loki wasn’t going to take that chance for granted. Although the circumstances of the event were most certainly strange, with Loki sensing the multiple time disruptions and even noticed the presence of _two_ Tony Starks, he was quick to place that under the ‘Not My Problem’ category and move on.

He did have more pressing matters to attend to after all.

Like escaping his brother, Thor, God of Can’t Take a Joke. 

To be fair his most recent transgressions had… regretfully cost the lives of countless Midgardians. 

_By Odin’s wrath, what had he done?_

It wasn’t supposed to be this destructive. This irrevertible. 

The feeling of neglect that came with being overshadowed by his bull headed brother, had bubbled and fermented over the last few hundred years as his brother’s coronation crept slowly closer. He couldn’t understand why his father wanted the dolt to rule the kingdom when he was all too eager to plunge the nine realms into war!

The stunt with the frost giants was only supposed to show his father how ill fitted his brother was for the throne. It was beneath him to associate with those savages but it was a necessary evil at the time. 

His plan had worked and his brother’s flaws we’re finally exposed and treated like the festering wound that it was… but all at the cost of discovering a truth he wished he’d never known. 

He was one of those _savages_. The monster of children’s nightmares. What was he supposed to think about that? Was that why Thor was the golden boy? Was it because Odin could never see a creature like him sitting on the throne? 

He never got his answer since just after confronting his father, the stress had pushed him into the dreaded Odinsleep. 

And _that_ was what gave him the throne he so deeply desired, but at what cost? His brother was rightfully banished, his father was in a coma, there was a threat of attack from the frost giants, Asgard was in turmoil, and his mother… his mother wouldn’t stop crying. 

So he panicked and did what he did best: Cause more chaos like the royal screw up that he was.

By the time all was said and done he was ashamed of his actions, how could he face his father after that? Letting himself fall into the closing portal of a broken Bifrost was a coward's way out but he took it anyway and he was rewarded by ending up in the back end of nowhere lost and alone.

Then he met the titan who promised him a throne and his own glory while poisoning his mind with the very staff that he said would help him in his endeavor. It twisted his desires, clouding his judgement, and pushing him to succeed no matter the cost. It wasn’t until the great green bully slammed his head into the ground a few times that he finally snapped out of it, but by then it was much too late. 

He had already lost the trust of his father with his previous mistake so an act of war on the primitive Midgard wouldn’t leave any patients to allow him to plead his case. 

So with the tesseract in hand as he utilized the chaos of Iron Man’s heart troubles as a cover, the only thing he thought of was ‘ _take me somewhere I deserve._ ’ He was almost terrified of what that would mean, that was the last thing he wanted to think when activating the tesseract, but the infinity stones had a way of pulling out your truths. At the moment Loki was in a very self-deprecating mood and not focusing enough on his thoughts, he just wanted out of there as quickly as possible. 

Intent was everything with magic, so dread sat heavy in his chest in that split second while he transported to whatever destiny had in store for him.

That being said, he was left perplexed when he found himself standing in a deserted street of the Midgard city only a few miles away from the area he destroyed. 

After everything, he didn’t want to question the logic of the tesseract. So, he tucked the tesseract into a little pocket universe for safe keeping as he took a closer look at the building he was placed in front of. Like the ones surrounding it, it was made of dirty red bricks and a handful of stories tall. It’s front was lined with glass allowing you to see into the dark interior that was only illuminated by small lights above glass enclosures. ‘Charlie’s Critters’ was spelt out in multi colored letters printed on one of the windows and small fluffy creatures were displayed in cages just under it. 

Loki scoffed at the insult but was immediately reminded that he deserved it when the sound was muffled by the gag. If this was where the tesseract though he should be then so be it. He really had nothing better to do then spend his self exile in a Midgardian pet store. 

It took a few spells and quite a few more attempts to unlock the handcuffs but with time he managed. He was grateful for the lack of security in the area so those agents of SHIELD wouldn’t immediately discover his whereabouts as he snuck his way into the store. There were all sorts of small creatures but it was the one corner dedicated to reptiles that Loki was drawn to. It was poetic that the only place he could hide was among other snakes like himself. 

There was a single snake tank tucked into the far back that was empty, it was mostly out of sight and with a wave of his magic he cleaned it up to be suitable for himself.

Loki just sighed looking down at the fake foliage and decorative rocks, this is what his life has come too. 

No matter. After a few years he’ll find himself a better place to exist where his ambitions didn’t danger the nine realms. They were going to put him into a prison anyways, he at least now he had a choice in it. 

~

The next morning as New York picked up the pieces of the battered city, Charlie Watler opened his store to continue business as usual. He didn’t even notice the black, green eyed snake that now watched him from a tank that was previously empty.


	2. Age 10 Part 1

Time travel is a fickle thing. A change in the past can cause disastrous futures or in this case, an event at SHIELD’s Camp Lamplight caused them to evaluate all of their employees and suspend the hiring for a single month. 

Richard Parker was never approached by a man in a black suit and dark glasses after his university graduation. He was never placed into a mysterious organization for his incredible skills in bioengineering. He was never offered a place on a covert team of undercover agents scientists “defecting” from the United States of America. He would never go on to have a string of successful missions. His final mission would never end in the death of both himself and the woman he loved.

He did, however, still meet this woman. 

Circumstances weren’t quite the same as the first way he met her. It wasn’t the Fourth of July, but it was New Years Eve. It was in a tiny bar in Brooklyn that he never went to, but that a coworker at the research center suggested. 

Marry was soon to be a Parker just like before. 

Only this time, when Peter Parker was born he lived with them for almost eleven years before they were taken from him. Like before it was a plane crash, but instead of returning from a covert mission of an unnamed country, they were returning from a Swedish conference about the advancements in medical science.

He was only supposed to stay with his Aunt and Uncle for a few weeks. 

It’s been three months.

~

Living in a pet shop wasn’t terrible, Loki decided. 

It was dull no doubt, but it was effective. Even if he had reservations about the idea, seeing that it was a pet store after all, but choosing the form of a snake prevented most people from taking him home. 

For a year he curled up in his enclosure that was too small for a snake his size. He watched as parents steered their children away with disgusted sneers guiding them to pick one of the friendly looking lizards or frogs. If they were particularly nasty he would give them a charm of bad luck that would last anywhere from a single day to months dependent on how he felt that day. He was the god of mischief after all. 

He learned the time and habits of Midgardians as the days went on. He grew used to the hustle and bustle of the day to day activity in the pet store. It was open from 10am to 7pm. The shop didn’t get many visitors until noon when people would stop by during lunch breaks for supplies or just to browse. It would be slow again until 4. Children would stop by after school to check on the animals, some would even return later with their parents to get something. As the day continued the flow of customers would remain steady. The shop was closed on weekends which made Fridays and Mondays the busiest days of the week. 

In fact, it was a Friday when Loki’s new normal was shattered.

When the door chimed, Charlie greeted the customers like he always did. Loki couldn’t see the door from the reptile corner but at this point there was no use trying to get a look at every customer that walked in. He’d much rather partake in the needs of his coldblooded form as he curled up on the too small heat rock, under the too bright heat lamp. His long slender body coiled in on itself to form a tight black ball with his head tucked under everything as he dozed off dreaming of his mother’s garden on Asgard.

Business as usual… except he felt the eyes of someone watching him.

He would be scowling if a snake had the ability of facial expressions.

He remained still as he hoped the observer would lose interest and go away, but at the minutes ticked Loki grew annoyed with the presence. As he loosened his curled up body so he could uncover his face and stick his head up through the middle of the ball he made he went through the minor curses he could inflict on the Midgardian that disturbed his peace. 

He was a little disappointed to see that it was a boy looking at him through the glass. He wasn’t heartless enough to curse a child for simply being curious. He did, however, take pleasure in the sight of the boy’s large brown eyes growing wide at the sight of him. 

Loki knew what he looked like. The lamp above gave the perfect lighting for his reflection to stare back at him each time he looked towards the glass. On Asgard the species was known as the ridgethorn but here he was simply called ‘that black snake over there’ by the shopkeeper. The ridgethorn differed from most Midgardian snakes, the ridges above his eyes had small spines on them, the shape giving him a permanent angry scowl that paired with his sharp, green silted eyes was an intimidating sight. 

He hoped his unfriendly appearance would ward off the child, but the boy was reacting with wonder instead of fear. Loki leaned forward towards the boy’s face, his tongue instinctively flicking out to sent the air but it simply brushed against the glass making the act useless. But the important thing was that he could see into the boy’s eyes. They were the window into the soul even if the Midgardians didn’t believe it, you could still learn a lot about a person by his eyes. Although he didn’t use it often, it was a skill his mother taught to him.

What Loki saw was the expected bright pureness of a child not long enough in this world to tarnish it. What he didn’t expect was the cloak of sadness that surrounded him.

“Peter,” a brown haired Midgardian woman called. The boy looked toward her as she approached. “Find something you want?” 

The boy, Peter, looked back at Loki tilting his head. Loki laid his head down again as he didn’t bother waiting for the usual response of ‘not yet,’ or ‘still looking’ to cross the child's lips as he closed his eyes.

“I think so.”

Loki’s eyes snapped open as he looked towards the boy in shock. 

‘That black snake over there’ was valued at $30 and a brown eyed boy named Peter Parker walked out of the shop with Loki, Asgardian, Frost Giant, God of Mischief, and the being responsible for countless deaths, held in a 8 by 6 inch cardboard carrying box that was much too small to be remotely comfortable. Luckily transit wasn’t too bumpy, and the boy seemed to be taking general care not to cause too much movement to the box.

He was curled up in the cramp space for nearly an hour as the boy assembled and prepared Loki’s new enclosure. As soon as the box was moved and the top was opened, Loki was gently poured into his new cage. 

It was much bigger than the one at the pet shop, taller too! Ridgethorns were tree dwelling snakes and while in this body Loki was a slave to its wants and instinct. So the thought of climbing up the cut tree limbs with fake leaves set up in the enclosure was more exciting then Loki would ever admit. He slithered over the dark wood shavings at the bottom of the tank where Peter had partly buried a large heat rock twice the size of his last one. Peter had included many places to hide comfortably, a luxury Loki didn’t get at the pet shop. Who was going to buy something they couldn’t see? 

Loki explored his new cage, he climbed up the tree limbs to the very top where the dim but effective heat lamp was as he flicked his tongue out sensing the new environments and nosing at every nook and cranny to find all the spots he could hide. He didn’t particularly mind the boy watching him, like any child he knew he would lose interest eventually and only pay Loki the bare minimum attention afterwards. 

Not that it mattered how much attention the boy was going to give him, he wouldn’t be staying long anyways. The way Loki sees it, this was all just a sign telling him it was time to move on. With the tesseract in hand he could go anywhere in the universe, plenty of places to live out the next few centuries without causing more trouble… maybe then he’ll work up the courage to return to Asgard.

Peter sat cross legged on the floor in front of Loki’s cage that was placed on a very low sitting square table that just barely fit the foot of the tank. It’s outward door was still open as he watched the god. The shroud of sadness still covered the boy, something like that didn’t go away quickly, but he would smile occasionally as he watched Loki. Finally, Loki decided that was enough looking around and contemplating his simple escape plan. He draped himself over one of the middle tree branches. When his body was comfortably curled up he laid his head on top making him eye level with Peter.

Eventually, the boy spoke, “Hi… glad you're settling in. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Peter Parker… and um,” He looked around the small room they were in, “This is my room,” He waved an arm at the area. There was a bed pushed against the far corner with a desk and dresser squeezed next to it. Loki was positioned in the opposite corner next to the closet. There was comfortable walking space only if they didn’t add any more furniture.

“So yeah,” The boy continued, “I hope you like it here. Sorry if you liked the pet shop better but I promise to take really good care of you!” He said brightly. “They said you didn’t have a name at the shop but I have been watching these old movies recently. They’re called Star Wars. It’s super awesome and there are plenty of epic names from that. I’ll make extra sure to give you a good one… what do you say?”

Loki blinked as the boy seemed to wait for a response. He wasn’t aware that Midgardian snakes had the ability to communicate. He’s heard many stories about them but never thought they were true. Hm… well, if they were that would explain why people disliked them so much. Too human in speech but too foreign in body. It made sense, and Peter looked at him seeming to expect some kind of response. He could already see the brightness of excitement start to dim in his eyes.

Loki panicked at the sight. Yet, he could never explain why.

“The old man at the shop barely acknowledged me, but I will accept whatever you wish to call me,” his mouth didn’t move as he spoke since snakes didn’t have the proper vocals, if any at all, to form words. So he used some of the limited magic he was allowed in this form to project his voice into Peter’s mind. Something he had assumed was an ability other snakes possessed, it was a common occurrence in the rest of the universe. Because of this reasoning Loki would later tell himself it was a completely understandable mistake.

Peter’s eyes grew impossibly wide, “Y- Did you just talk?” He asked, shocked.


	3. Age 10 Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Technically_ its next week.... So I'm just gonna post this chapter for everyone. I got an amazing response for this so I'd hate to keep you waiting!

Peter’s eyes grew impossibly wide, “Y- Did you just talk?” He asked, shocked.

The good thing about his escape plan is he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of his mistake for long. It was also a good thing that as the God of Mischief he was good at rolling with unforeseen events. “I’m… a special breed,” Loki replied lamely.

“Whoa… that's so cool,” The boy now looked at Loki in awe. “Are you like one of those super powered people, except a snake?” 

“Yes, exactly that,” Loki replied. “Anyways, how about that name?” Loki said quickly, hoping to change the subject. As if you could distract someone from the fact that a snake was talking.

“Oh right! Hmm… Well, your scales are black so the first thing I think of is Darth Vader. But you’re not evil,” Peter said as he chewed his lip in though. He fell for the simple diversion.

“Definitely not evil,” Loki nodded. 

“How about Anakin?” Peter asked excitedly. “Ok so he kinda turns into Darth Vader and goes to the dark side but he realizes he was wrong and turns back good before dying! So, he’s a good guy in the end? Also, ya know, it's a cool name.” 

“You wish to refer to me as… Anakin?” Loki asked. The similarities between him and this ‘Vader’ character were not lost on him, and whether Loki did good or not he sure hoped it wouldn’t be with his dying breath. 

“Do… Do you not like it?” Peter asked slowly, his smile fading. The small glimmer of joy that fought against the sadness started to dim.

“It’s simply a name I’ve never heard before,” Loki started to wonder what caused this sadness, “But I do believe the name is fitting. You may call me Anakin.” Loki couldn't help but feel a little satisfied as the brightness shined in the boys eyes again.

“Awesome,” Peter grinned widely. 

“Peter!” Peter’s Aunt called from the other room. “Come help clean up for tomorrow.”

“Just a second, Aunt May!” The boy called as he leaned back to shout out the door. He turned his attention back to Loki as he carefully closed the glass door of the terrarium. “Ok, I’ll be back later, Anakin. And then we can totally watch all the Star Wars episodes together!” He said happily. Loki could tell that the shroud of sadness over the boy’s soul remained, but there was something admirable about the fact that happiness could shine through despite it. 

“Oh, and Peter?” Loki said before the boy darted out the door. 

“Hm?” Peter said, he was hanging on the doorframe. 

“I don’t think it would be wise to let others know of my ability,” Loki didn’t want the poor boy to be mistaken as crazy. Although the whims of a child excused them for all sorts of behaviors he didn’t want to add any more trouble to the boy’s life.

Peter stepped towards the terrarium again looking concerned, “what do you mean?” 

“If the wrong person were to find out about me… you might get in really big trouble. Something bad may even happen. I wouldn't want you or your family getting hurt,” Loki said carefully, he didn’t want to frighten the child too much but it was the only thing he could think of that would convince him not to mention the talking snake.

“Not even Aunt May and Uncle Ben?” Peter asked. 

“Not even them,” Loki replied. 

Peter though for a moment as he chewed on his lip, “... ok,” he finally said, “I can keep your secret.” He said with a bright smile. He quickly ran off to his aunt and Loki was left there by himself. 

~

The room was left empty for the remainder of the day which was only a handful of hours at most. Loki didn’t mind, it was honestly more preferable to the constant noise of the pet shop. 

It wasn’t until the sun had set that Peter barreled into the room. “Hi Anakin!” He said quickly as he grabbed clothes from his closet before saying “I’ll be right back!’ just as he bolted out of the room and into what Loki could tell was the bathroom. After a quick shower Peter returned wearing cozy blue starship pajamas. 

He landed in front of Loki’s tank with a small thud. His mousy brown hair darkened by the water still dripping from it.

“Ok!” Peter said excitedly, “So I was thinking we can watch episode four through six tonight for starters and THEN-” 

“Peter.” May said sticking her head through the door. She tossed a towel at Peter, “make sure to dry your hair good… what are you two talking about so excitedly?” She asked, clearly amused by the child’s behavior. 

“Me and Anakin are gonna watch the Star Wars movies tonight so he knows where his name comes from,” Peter grinned. 

May paused for a moment, Loki could tell she considered rejecting the idea he knew that most children went to bed at earlier times so she surprised him with her response. “You can’t watch all of them tonight, choose only one, ok? You gotta get up early tomorrow to help with the decorations.”

“Awww, come on Aunt May,” Peter huffed.

“Only one, you should be happy I’m letting you see that one. It’ll be almost midnight by the time you finish,” May said sternly.

“Ok, fine,” Peter groaned. He watched as May left then looked over at Loki with a sly smile. He leaned into whisper, “I knew she wasn’t going to let us see all the movies. But I thought if I set a higher expectation she’d compromise.” 

“Oh? Well, wasn’t that clever of you,” Loki said, a little impressed

“I just really _really_ wanted you to see the first movie tonight,” Peter said with an embarrassed smile as he put a towel over his head. He shook his hair vigorously to dry it and when he was done his hair was puffed up like a fluffy porcupine. 

He tossed the towel aside and pulled out a small box TV with a little DVD player hooked up to it. Peter narrated what he did explaining each function of the player and TV with surprising detail of it’s mechanics. After that he started to talk about his party tomorrow and how May and Ben invited some of their friends' kids who he was excited to meet. 

“I might be going to school with some of them. How cool is that!” Peter commented just as he pressed the play button.

With loud trumpets and bright golden letters scrolling up the black screen, Loki watched the movie from his case. He didn’t really take much interest in it, though it was a good time waster as he waited for the boy to fall asleep so he could enact his plans of escape.

He just had to get out of the cage and to the window, both he could open with his limited magic so neither was an obstacle. 

It wasn’t until the main cast of characters were fighting a group of white soldiers (which was hardly an indicator of how much time has passed since that scenario happened frequently in the movie) that Peter had drifted off to sleep on the floor surrounded by pillows and blankets he piled together near Loki’s tank. 

While using the sound from the TV to cover his movements, he nodded his head towards the latch of the glass door. It slowly swung open and he slithered out. Peter took up most of the space on the floor so there wasn't any room to go around him. He froze when he heard movement from the hallways. A shadow passed as Peter’s aunt moved rooms. Loki waited a moment before deciding to carefully slither over the blanket that draped across Peter’s legs. 

From that point it was easy to make it up to the window using the bedpost and the desk. 

He tried to quietly push it open with his magic, but the window was old and the tracks allowing it to slide up squeaked. There was a groan from the floor as Peter began to stir.

Loki paused hoping he would go back to sleep. 

That hope was dashed when Peter noticed the open glass door. He jerked awake with a hint of panic as he looked around. “Anakin!” He whispered loudly as he looked around on the floor. When he finally spotted the snake on the desk near the window he relaxed, “Oh good, there you are,” but then a hint of concern showed on his face. “What are you doing up there?” He asked carefully, clearly noticing the slightly opened window. 

Loki sighed, he really wished the boy had gone back to sleep. Once again he was taking the cowards way out. Strangely that made him only feel more guilty. “There’s really no point in lying…” he said looking back at Peter, “But I’m leaving, and I won’t be coming back.” 

Peter’s concern quickly shifted to heartbreak, “What? Why!?” he said quickly as he hurried over to the desk. Loki could see the unshed tears shine in his eyes. So he looked away towards the dark window to avoid the sight.

“I belong somewhere else. I promise, you don’t want a snake like me anyways,” Loki said quietly. This shouldn’t be nearly so difficult. He should just cut ties and leave… it didn’t help that he could see the boy’s quivering lip in the reflection.

“I’m sure you are not that bad!” Peter replied, “I like you, you’re nice. Stay, please stay. I’ll get you a better enclosure. You can go wherever you want. Y-you can even go outside and stuff! Just-just come back, please,” The boy pleaded his voice interrupted by sniffs and hiccups. 

“I’ve done some very bad things, Peter. I’ve hurt a lot of people with my actions. I’m a…” He wanted to say villain, but even that was too much to admit. So he compromised, “I am a Darth Vader.” It was silly, Loki knew that but he wasn’t sure how else to tell this young boy he was the bad guy.

“No,” Peter said firmly. “You feel bad for what you did, right? You don’t have to be Darth Vader… you can be Anakin. You can do good… or at least not be bad,” he said quietly as he wiped his face against his sleeve. 

“It’s too late for that, child,” Loki replied. 

Peter bit his lip to prevent it from shaking as he sat there on the desk chair quietly. Then after a small sniff and wiping his eyes again he leaned forward to open the window, but then he grabbed a short but sturdy looking block of wood to wedge it in the window to keep it open. “It’s never too late to be good… if-,” Peter hesitated but eventually looked back at Loki, “If you want to come back I’ll leave the window open for you.” The smallest glimmer of hope shined in his eyes. 

Loki remained quiet. He only stared at Peter for a moment before turning to slither out the window and onto the fire escape. 

It was easy to disappear from sight after that. Although he didn’t plan on looking back, he couldn't help glance towards the window one last time before it was out of sight. 

~

His Asgardian form was strange to return to after so long without it. He stretched his fingers as he looked down at his hands. They were the one thing he missed most as a snake. 

After a moment he clenched his hand into a fist then opened it suddenly, now floating in his palm, was the tesseract encased in a bubble that would conceal its power from the humans still searching for it. It wouldn't take much effort to use it, and this time with a clear mind he could properly control where it took him. 

He was thinking some distant galaxy not even Asgard has explored yet or maybe the ends of the universe would be more fitting. He has heard of an interesting sight called Nowhere that might be a good pitstop before either place. 

Strangely, despite the hundreds of potential destinations in mind he found himself reluctant to leave. 

He could still hear Peter say _‘it’s never too late to be good’_ just at the edge of his thoughts. He let out a small laugh. “Oh the naivety of a child,” he said quietly. It was hard to ignore the part of him that wished such things were true. 

For the first time in a long time, he considered what his brother might think of all this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :}
> 
> The conclusion of this little cliff hanger will be posted later this week... when? Who knows. Probably Thursday.


	4. Age 11

Waking up that next morning, Peter didn’t even care that it was his 11th birthday.

He didn’t have his parents this year, and now, when he finally thought he was getting a cool new friend after having to leave all his other friends in the move to Queens, he looked down sadly at the floor as he thought of how they were gone too. 

“Now, is that anyway to look when you’ve got some party to go to?” Hissed a familiar tone. 

Peter’s head shot up and he spotted the black snake on his window seal. “Anakin!” Peter said as he practically fell out of his bed to hurry over to the desk chair. “You came back,” Peter smiled from ear to ear.

“Yes, well, I couldn’t miss the um- party… What’s it for anyways?” He hissed curiously as he slithered over the window seal to settle on the desk in front of Peter.

“It’s my birthday!” Peter said proudly, “I’m turning eleven.”

“Of course, right. I most certainly wouldn’t want to miss that,” Anakin said. He was hesitant at first but Peter watched as the snake slithered up his hand to coil himself around Peter’s forearm. 

“Best birthday ever,” Peter giggled as he lightly brushed his fingers over Anakin’s smooth pointed scales.


	5. Age 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was definitely a fun chapter to write. Hope you like it!

“Peter!” May called just before the young teen could rush out the door for school.

“Yeah?” he answered from the doorway. He pushed his glasses up his nose and shrugged on a brown jacket that he may or may not have gotten for the soul purpose of it looking like Hans Solo’s jacket. 

“Did you close the snake's cage? I swear one of these days we’re not going to be able to find him if he escapes again.” 

“Um… yeah, it’s closed?” He looked down under his coat collar.

_ “ _ No, you forgot again,” Anakin hissed from the dark cover of the coat. 

Ok, so maybe the Solo thing was a secondary reason. He mainly got the jacket so he could easily hide his talking pet snake when he took it to school. 

“Maybe?” He replied to May as he hurried back to his room. He quickly closed the snake cage before rushing out again. 

He almost ran into Uncle Ben on his way to the door, “Whoa! Easy there slick. What’s the rush,” He laughed. 

“Since it’s like the last day of school all of our classes are having parties today. I don’t want to miss it!” Peter said quickly. 

“Humm, is that so?” Ben replied, he was looking down at Peter with a knowing look, “And do you really need that coat in such hot weather?” 

_ “ _ Watch out. He might be suspicious, _ ” _ Anakin said with an amused tone.

“What? Yeah, fine!” Peter said, ignoring the snake’s comment. “Gotta go! See ya, Ben!” Peter said quickly as he bolted out the door. Peter was laughing as he rushed down the apartment stairs and made it out the front door to the sidewalk.

“How did he know?” Peter laughed.

“Peter, I hate to break it to you, but you have no subtlety,” the snake teased.

“It’s not like I haven't taken you places before.”

“And oddly you haven't improved your reptile smuggling skills,” He said amused.

“I should get better then. No way am I going through my first year of high school without you. You heard what Tina said!” Peter pulled his backpack further up on his shoulder. The only problem with having a snake hidden in your coat was the fact you couldn’t use both straps of a heavy school bag. 

“Ah, yes. They’ll shove freshmen in lockers and flush their stuff down the toilet. She swears that’s what her older brother said happened,” Anakin quotes in a dull tone, which mainly consisted of a head turn. “Even if that were true you’re not going to the inferior school that Tina’s dunce brother attended. You got accepted into Midtown with a full scholarship, I doubt they will treat their underclassmen the same way as those Neanderthals at public schools would.”

Peter just grinned, “You think so?”

“Yes… and if there is trouble. They’ll have to deal with me.” Anakin threatened. 

Peter reached a hand under his coat to ‘boop’ Anakin’s nose, “What’s a little snake like you gonna do?” he teased.

Absolutely affronted, Anakin hissed as he tried to bite Peter’s hand. “I’ll have you know I am highly venomous!” 

“You don’t even have teeth!”

“They. Are. Retracted,” Anakin huffed. 

“Hmm sure they are, Toothless” Peter said unconvinced. 

“I will strangle you,” Anakin threatened, but by now, Peter knew it was just an empty threat. Over the years Peter had come to know the mischievous and uptight snake often liked to to show affection through threats. It was discerning the real one from the fake ones that was the trick.

“And then who’s going to take you to see the second movie of How to Train Your Dragon?” Peter asked innocently. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I have no interest in human movies,” Anakin scoffed, as if a Peter hadn’t just heard him comment on the engaging concept of a recent movie. 

“See, that’s not what you said last week about Lucy.”

“I was simply pointing out the fantastical creative absurdity of the plot. I find it hilarious that you Humans think biology restricts you from such power. As if accessing 100% of the human brain would grant you unearned cosmic abilities. Utterly preposterous,” Anakin let out a small scoff. 

“What about Kingsman? I know you really liked that one,” Peter said as he turned into an alleyway that provided for a perfect shortcut to school. Usually he didn’t use it, since he didn’t mind taking a little longer to get there but today he was excited for the party. Plus having Anakin along for the ride made everything that much better. Speaking of… the snake was being awfully quiet, almost as if Peter had a point. “What was that?” Peter said in the snake's silence, “ it almost sounds like you liked it.”

“Fine,” Anakin hissed, “That one had enjoyable fight scenes.”

“You had me replay the church scene FIVE TIMES!” 

“Like I said, enjoyable.” Peter could just hear the grin in the snake's tone.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Peter said fondly. He turned a corner in the alleyway and he could see the street just a dozen feet away but Peter suddenly slowed when he spotted two men between him and the alley exit. He went quiet and automatically hunched his shoulders over as he lowered his head to make himself look smaller. 

‘Who was he talking to?’ he thought he heard one of them whisper as Peter approached.

“Just keep walking, Peter,” Anakin said quietly. Peter listened and kept his gaze to the ground, but out of the corner of his eye he could see one man holding a briefcase and the other holding something strange and glowing. Unfortunately this took Peter’s focus away from the ground where the cement lifted up slightly, Peter’s foot got caught on the corner and he stumbled into the man with the briefcase.

“I- I’m so sorry,” Peter said automatically, but looking down he could see the case busted wide open on the ground. Bags of white powder poured out. 

Before he could even react he was suddenly picked up and shoved against the wall by the other man.

Peter gasped with surprise and his immediate reaction was to protect the vulnerable snake under his coat from injury. This caused him to hit his other shoulder at an awkward angle. The next shove forced his head against the brick wall by a rough hand, he could hear his glasses break from the impact but that was only secondary to the sudden pain and dizziness. 

“Shit, you think he’s with the cops!?” One of them said quickly.

“I don’t know, man, check him for a wire or somethin’. He was talkin’ to someone!” The man holding him down said. The other yanked Peter’s bag away causing him to cry out from the added pain of his shoulder. The contents of his backpack were dumped onto the ground and soon he was patting Peter down just like how the cops did in the movies he watched. 

Only difference was when he went to check under his jacket for a microphone Peter heard a furious hiss and suddenly the man was reeling back with a snake latched firmly onto his hand. “What the fuck! Get it off!!” 

The one who was holding Peter down let him go so he could grab the snake. 

“Don’t hurt him!” Peter shouted as he panicked for his friend’s wellbeing. He threw himself at the thug grabbing his arm to keep him from getting any closer to the snake. But he was strong enough to immediately yank his arm out of Peter’s weak grasp. He then back handed Peter square in the face. Peter’s broken glasses flung off and he was knocked back to the ground.

The young teen only responded by surging forward to grab the guy’s leg, but once again his weak grip did nothing to stop him and was instead met with a kick to the face. 

He tried not to cry, but the tears escaped his bruised eyes as he looked up at the blurry mass of movement trying to see what happened to Anakin. But with tears clouding his already impaired vision it was impossible.

Then, without warning, there was a bright flash of green light. Peter instinctively covered his eyes and cowered away, but he forced himself to look up the moment he regained control. He was shocked to see a very tall figure with a hand to each of the thug’s throats as he pinned them to either wall of the narrow alley. 

“This boy is under  _ my  _ protection! You will pay for your transgressions!” The new figure said venomously. Peter frowned, the voice was strikingly familiar. He only had a moment to consider the thought when he was interrupted by the gasping chokes of the thugs suffocating. 

“Stop it! You’re killing them!” Peter said quickly as he tried to stand. He was still having trouble catching his balance so he used the nearby wall as supports. He squinted at the new figure, but he could only make out some kind of long green coat with black clothes underneath. There was still no sign of Anakin, but without his glasses there was no chance of spotting him in the dark colors of the alleyway. ‘ _ Please let him be ok _ ’ Peter thought to himself. 

“They attacked you!” The tall man said angrily. “These despicable bottom dwelling miscreants deserve nothing but death!” He practically hissed. 

“T-That’s what the police are for,” Peter said quickly, “They’ll be arrested, t-tried, and sent to jail. They don’t deserve death,” Peter stutterd out. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t utterly terrified.

It was then the two thugs were dropped. They crumbled to the ground. Peter was relieved to hear their labored breathing, they were only knocked out… but he was confused as to how. He didn’t see the tall man make any actions to hit them other than letting go. Behind his fear Peter was frustrated with his naturally horrible vision. 

Yet he was still able to remember his manors.

“T-Thank you,” Peter forced out.

The tall man was still seething with anger, it was practically radiating off of him. The moment he shot his attention towards Peter, the teen flinched back with the instinct to run but his legs were too shaky for that and his head was still spinning. Peter squished his eyes shut to fight off the oncoming headache. He was starting to think he had a concussion. 

“Here,” Said a now gentle voice, his anger had dissipated. Peter opened his eyes to see his glasses being held out to him, he frowned as he noticed they were completely unscathed despite their rough treatment. He swore the plastic frames cracked at one point.

“You fixed them?” Peter said, surprising himself with his own tone of curiosity, 

“No,” The man said calmly, “They were remarkably undamaged.” 

“But I heard them break, they were barely hanging on my face,” Peter took the glasses to inspect them. They looked better now than they did when he woke up this morning. Like they were completely new! “Whoa…” Peter said as he put them on “Did you use magic or- OH MY GOD YOU'RE LOKI!!” Peter said in shock as he stumbled backwards into a dumpster. 

Now with glasses on, he could clearly see the tall man’s face. It was unforgettable. Even if Peter hadn’t seen the battle of New York personally, there were enough pictures and records of the event that included the fabled God of Mischief that almost everyone in New York could pick him out in a crowd. 

“Anakin, where are you,” Peter said quickly as he kept his back to the dumpster with his eyes glued on the Norse god in front of him. He wanted to leave, now, but he couldn't without his friend. 

Strangely, Loki winced at the name. “Ah, about that…” Loki almost sounded guilty.

And like an anvil falling from the sky, Peter was hit hard with the realization. He had his glasses off at the time, but thinking back he could have sworn the green light came from the exact spot where his best friend, who just so happened to be a snake, was biting the bad guy’s hand. “Oh my god..” Peter began.

“So don’t freak out,” Loki said carefully. 

“Oh my god!!”

“That sounds like freaking out.” 

“I THINK I have the RIGHT to freak the fuck out right now! I just found out that my best friend in the whole wide world is LOKI!” Peter shouted. He hardly cared about his growing headache at this point.

Loki frowned then said in a familiar stern voice, “You know what Aunt May said about inappropriate words.” 

“I think this is a  _ completely  _ appropriate word for this situation!” Peter said with wide eyes, “You were a snake for  _ years  _ and you didn’t think to mention ‘Oh look at me hiss hiss, I’m Loki, God of Mischief. And by the way, I’m an intergalactic war criminal and you’re my cover so I can hide from the Avengers!” Peter was no longer freaking out, he was furious. He was hurt. Did their friendship mean anything? Was it just some ploy to keep himself from going to space jail or something?

“Oh no no, don’t blame this on me. My cover was the pet shop. You're the bizarre little child that wanted a snake for his birthday!” Loki snapped back. 

“Yeah, because snakes are cool!” Peter said as if it were a completely obvious fact. “I didn’t know you destroyed Hell’s Kitchen!”

“I told you!” Loki shouted, “That first night I  _ told  _ you what I was! A slimy little monster that’d done horrible things.”

“Yeah, and you came back anyways! What? Was I just too good of a cover to let go?” Peter snapped.

“NO! Because you said-!” Loki stopped, all the wind was taken out of his sails. He turned away from Peter, “Obviously it doesn't matter.” 

Peter froze, his own anger and hurt vanished as he remembered what he did when they first met. “It’s never too late to be good,” Peter repeated. “That’s why you stayed?”

“Maybe,” Loki bit back, “I was going to be in hiding for a while, decades even, though perhaps watching over this pathetic Midgardian child wouldn't be a complete waste of time.” 

“Oh…” Was all Peter could manage. Here was his best friend standing in front of him, ashamed of his past actions and trying to do good despite it. In the future Peter would be called an ignorant and naïve child for his next actions, they'd say ‘ _ you should have run. Called the police. Get the Avengers _ .’ But even then, when he’s older, he’d stand by the actions he took today. 

Peter took a small step forwards, then dashed towards Loki. He wrapped his arms around the god’s waist from behind and hugged him tightly. “I won’t apologize for the freak out but I’m sorry I got mad,” Peter’s voice was muffled in the fabric of Loki’s coat. “You’re my best friend… and you’re trying to be better. And if you at least put in the effort, then- then that’s gotta be worth a second chance.”

“I don’t think I deserve one,” Loki said quietly. He didn’t react to the hug and just stared at the ground. “I would’ve killed those men if you hadn’t stopped me.”

“But you didn’t,” Peter hugged him tighter, “I think that counts for something.” 

Loki just looked down at Peter’s arms. He finally reacted, he placed his hand on Peter’s wrist and squeezed gently. Then pulled Peter’s arms apart so he could turn around to face the young teen. Peter looked up at him with a small frown. 

“Here,” Loki raised a hand towards Peter's face. Golden strings danced and sparkled between his fingers. Peter just looked on in awe. The god waved the magic from his fingers towards Peter’s injured face. “I know a little bit of healing magic. Humans are not nearly as complicated as Asgardians so it should do the trick.”

The effect was instantaneous. His lightheadedness and headache were gone, and the tenderness of his freshly bruised face also disappeared. “Whoa,” Peter said as he watched Loki wave his hand over his head then finally settle it on Peter’s sprained shoulder, seconds after the golden light was gone. With his other hand Loki grabbed Peter’s forearm, then, in a flash of faint green light, the god of mischief was replaced by a little snake curled around Peter’s arm. 

“Time to go. You still have enough time to make it to school,” Loki said casually. “And I’ve already notified the police.”

“Right, of course,” Peter turned to grab his bag. He wasn’t nearly as surprised as he thought he’d be to see it laying neatly against the wall with all of its contents safely back inside. 

Peter pulled the bag over his shoulder and walked out of the little alleyways. “Wait,” he paused looking back. “You said you were venomous.”

“Ah, right… I may have lied about that.”

“I knew it,” Peter laughed as he continued on his way to school. 

He had never been happier to take the shortcut before.


	6. Age 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh boy. You guys are in for a... uh.. fun one :}

“Ah yes, a field trip to a… science convention. How delightfully boring,” Loki complained, as he walked up the steps to the convention center with Peter at the edge of the visiting freshmen students of Midtown High. “What I really want to know is how you managed to talk me into acting as a chauffeur for your class.” 

“Well, no one else was volunteering and Aunt May and Uncle Ben would both be at work. If the class didn’t have enough babysitters then we couldn't go… also you got cool disguise magic so it’s not like anyone’ll know who you are anyways,” Peter shrugged. “And science is  _ not  _ boring!”

“It is when you've grown up with technology thousands of years ahead of your primitive world,” Loki scoffed.

“You’re just jealous because Earth actually has style,” Peter replied. 

“I’d much prefer function over style,” Loki remarked.

Peter stopped in his tracks and gave Loki a  _ Look _ , “Two words,” he said counting them on his fingers, “Golden. Horns.”

“Oh, shut up, do you have any idea how useful that helmet is for a defensive weapon? It's considered a last resort piece if you must know. The curve of the horns allow for you to deflect incoming blows as well as the potential of trapping your opponent's blade allowing you to take it from them if you maneuver correctly,” Loki said informatively.

“Yeah, no, I’m pretty sure you were like ‘Yes, these’ll work perfectly with my outfit… now let me invent some tactical excuse as to  _ why  _ they’re necessary.’” Peter made a great impersonation of Loki’s Asgardian accent. 

“Would you like me to curse you with bad luck? Because that is an excellent way to ensure you stub your toe on every corner in the apartment for the next weak,” Loki replied. 

“I shouldn't have shown you that post about modern day curses,” Peter mumbled.

“I was very fond of the Lego one,” Loki hummed.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Peter chuckled, “Didn’t you try it on Flash?”

“Who knows,” Loki said innocently, “Maybe he should watch where he steps more often.”

Peter laughed, they entered the convention center and stepped through a checkpoint that scanned their bags and had them walk through a metaldetector. Despite the countless knives Peter knew Loki hid on his person, he didn’t set off any of the machines. After they passed, the students were allowed to wander around to their heart's content. They just had to meet back at the front by 11’oclock. Peter turned back to see Loki was roped into listening to Mr. Harrington about his failed marriage. Loki looked at him with warning eyes that said ‘ _ Don’t leave me with this imbecile _ ,’ Peter simply gave a wide grin and a wave before walking off towards the large display that read ‘ _ The Breakthroughs of  _ _ Radiobiology _ _! _ ’

~

As the students met back with the teachers and parent volunteers, Peter’s hand was throbbing with a dull pain. ‘ _ It was just a little bug bite _ ,’ he told himself. He didn’t want to miss out on the field trip he’d been looking forward to for months just because he had to worry about a simple incident with a spider. 

“Thank god I don’t have to deal with that man during decathlon,” Loki said from behind Peter. “But with his need to dictate his entire life story to everyone he meets, I’m sure it's just a matter of time before he starts talking to snakes.” 

Peter shoved his hand in his pocket. He knew Loki probably wouldn't make a big deal about it, but he wasn’t going to take that chance. “Mr. Harrington’s not that bad. He’s just heartbroken, I think.”

“If he could just suffer a little more quietly the world would be better for it,” Loki replied. 

Peter jabbed Loki in the arm with his good hand, “Bad Norse God, no sounding like a super villain,” the teen scholdled. 

Loki just gave the small human a death glare, “Do you have any idea how patronizing that is?”

“Totally,” Peter grinned, “That’s why I do it.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Peter said smugly. When all the students were accounted for, Mr. Harrinton led the class out of the convention for their lunch break. Peter didn’t even notice the pain anymore. 

~

That evening after Loki settled into his snake enclosure, Peter had gone to the bathroom to check the spider bite. 

The pain had only gotten worse, and looking at it now Peter’s heart filled with dread as he lightly poked at the blotchy swollen bite. Peter knew he probably should get it looked at, especially since he couldn't be sure what kind of spider bit him.

But he also knew a simple doctors appointment would be really expensive, and he’d seen the bills on the table… he didn’t want to add to them. 

So despite feeling a little like his head was full of cotton, and that his body was both too hot and too cold, Peter brushed his teeth, exited the bathroom with his hand hidden under the long sleeve of his pajama shirt, and crawled into bed hoping that in the morning the problem would simply solve itself. 

The problem didn’t solve itself. 

In fact it got worse.

Much much worse. 

~

Loki let out a big yawn and slithered up the branches of his enclosure to stretch away the stiffness of a comfortable night’s sleep. Uncle Ben had woken them up as he usually did with a knock on the door followed by him saying “Rise and shine, kiddo!” 

Loki curled up on the top branch as he closed his eyes again to snooze until Peter was finished getting ready for school. Usually Peter groaned or shifted in his bed after Uncle Ben’s wake up call, but today he stayed still. “Peter,” Loki hissed, “Wake up. You got a test today.” 

Usually that got Peter to move, so his stillness caused him to mentally frown.

“Peter?” He tried again. Loki looked over at the teen’s bed, but the dresser obscured the top half. The only thing he could really see was his feet. 

After being met with silence for the third time Loki was getting worried. With a flick of his tail, the enclosed door opened. He was quick to slither down to the floor, across the room and onto the bed. As a snake his senses were sharper, he could smell the heavy scent of sweat and pain, and now that he was closer he could see Peter curled in on himself shivering. 

Loki knew this wasn’t good, and without a thought towards keeping himself hidden he quickly shifted out of his snake form and into his Asgardian body. He needed full use of his magic if he was going to help Peter. 

As gently as he could he slowly lifted Peter up into a sitting position. He could see now that the boy was deathly pale and as he was moved Peter responded with a whimper and shivered as he tried to pull the blankets back around them. “Shhh shh,” Loki tried to reassure, “it’s just me, I need to see what’s wrong.”

“It’s nothin’..” Peter mumble, “ ‘m fine.”

“You most certainly are not,” Loki replied as he placed a hand on the center of Peter’s chest and the other on his back. A faint golden glow shone from under his palms. But the moment he started reading the information about his spells it did nothing to ease his worry for the human, in fact it only grew.

“That can’t be right,” Loki mumbled as he tried the spell again. But again, he was given the same results.

Peter’s entire physiology was currently being restructured. The process was stable and to Loki’s relief he could survive the... well, there was no other word to describe it except as metamorphosis. But he’d only survived if the process went uninterrupted, and humans have an awful habit of meddling in things they don’t understand. He just had to keep Aunt May and Uncle Ben from accidentally taking him to the hospital. Fortunately, the task would be easy enough with a little bit of magic. 

In a few minutes, when Uncle Ben came to check on Peter, he’d find the boy still in bed with the typical symptoms of a bad cold. 

~

When Peter finally woke up, his head was no longer pounding and he actually felt fantastic! At least until he realized he needed to go to school and as he tried to get ready strange things began to happen…

When he put his glasses on everything was blurry until he took them off and found he had perfect vision. When he tried to open his bedroom door he accidentally yanked it off its hinges. It was only when he went to grab his clothes and everything started sticking to his hands that he thought something was very very wrong.

“Loki, what did you do,” Peter asked slightly freaked out as he tried to pull his blue shirt off his hand. He only ended up getting both hands stuck to the fabric and forcing it to rip apart. He quickly looked up at the snake laying on one of the fake tree limbs for answers.

“ _ I _ didn’t do anything,” Loki replied. “ _ Someone _ simply forgot to tell me they were bitten by a radioactive spider and by the time I found out there was no stopping the genetic reconstruction.” Loki said plainly. 

“I’m sorry, what!?” Peter shouted.

“By the way, you should probably look at the time,” Loki replied.

Peter took a quick glance at the digital clock, “It’s 8o’clock and you're making me late for school,” he said, still struggling to get the shirt off his hands. 

“Look again~” 

Peter just rolled his eyes and grabbed the digital clock with the shirt still on his hand. Again it was  _ still  _ 8 o’clock and Peter was not in the mood for Loki’s games right now… wait. 

“PM!?! Ah crap I missed school!” 

“Perfect record down the drain,” Loki said, amused as he curled back up under the heat lamp unbothered by the teens troubles. 

~

It took some adjusting to get used to these new abilities. He was a little freaked out about the whole thing and very apologetic towards Loki for not telling him about the bite, but a lot of that was overshadowed by the amazing fact that he now had super powers!

There was so much he could do with his abilities, but his very first thought was now he could help Aunt May and Uncle Ben with their bills. He just needed to find someplace he could do that and with a few google searches, he didn’t have to look far.

“So there’s a small time boxing ring that does no rule cage fights… I can’t exactly go in looking like a kid. So i put this together… what do you think?” Peter said as he turned away from the mirror after sleeping on his mask and goggles. He looked up at Loki who was curled up on Peter’s dresser. 

“It looks like you pulled out a bunch of old mismatched clothes,” Loki replied.

“Well, that’s cause I did but I’ll fix it later when I get more money,” Peter shrugged. 

“If you need the money that bad, why not just take it from an ATM? The thing’s insured so it's stealing money from big corporations that have way too much.”

“You’ve been listening to that Jones girl too much,” Peter frowned.

“I like her, you should be friends with her so I don’t have to use magic to hear her rants,” Loki said as he slithered into Peter’s outstretched arm. He crawled up to Peter’s shoulder and tucked himself around Peter’s neck under his pulled up hood. 

“She’s… kind of intense,” Peter said hesitantly, then quickly continued with, “But even if she did say that and it might be true it doesn’t change the fact that stealing is wrong and I’d only feel more guilty about it when I gave it to Uncle Ben and Aunt May. What if someone finds out and they’re the ones that get in trouble?” 

“You and your moral high ground. Does that ever get exhausting?” Loki teased.

“Nope!” Peter said popping the P. He turned towards his bedroom window to sneak out, “Now let’s go punch some people in the face!... but gently, I don’t want to break their necks.” 

“You just had to take the fun out of it,” Loki sighed. 

~

It wasn’t often that Loki found himself left home alone instead of by Peter’s side in some form or another, but since Peter gained his powers it’s been happening more frequently. He grew more confident with himself as he got used to his abilities, but if Loki was being honest it wasn’t the actual reason Peter was acting differently.

It was easy to forget that humans grew up more quickly then Asgardians, so he really had no idea how to deal with the whims of a teenager. Some days Peter would be happy, others he might be slightly on the moody side about something, but most days Peter kept trying desperately to be independent. Meaning Loki was left at home.

He knew it would happen eventually. His mother would say ‘every bird must leave the nest eventually.’ Even if the situation wasn’t quite so literal in comparison, the sentiment was there. Still, he was hoping he’d have until the current school year finished.

Really the situation was far less detrimental than how he describes it. He could leave whenever he wanted, walk around the city, do something to fill his time until Peter was back, but without the distraction of the teen being there it was all too easy to remember why he was pretending to be a snake. He was in self exile that had somehow evolved into acting as a guardian to some super powered kid in Queens. 

Loki had buried himself under the woodchips of his enclosure as he tried to sleep off his self loathing. Peter had replaced the apparent “dangerous” heating rock with a heat pad under the tank. Apparently in his research of snakes, Peter learned that it was irresponsible of the pet shop owner to give a new reptile owner such a thing. Of course Loki got an earful of the then eleven-year-old’s opinion while he installed the new heat pad. Loki let the boy know that he was smart enough not to let some simple thing hurt him by laying on it too long though he made sure to hide the fact that there were plenty of times he’d fallen asleep on the heating rock only to wake up with uncomfortably tender scales. 

This small fact is something he would take to his grave, he did  _ not  _ need a child telling him ‘I told you so.’

Still, the memory was something he looked back fondly on as he curled up in the area where the much more comfortable heat pad was placed. 

Eventually he heard the front door open, and with a quick glance at the clock it told him it was just Uncle Ben coming home for his lunch break.

He listened to the footsteps as they wandered through the apartment and into the kitchen. Eventually, after some time, Ben made his way to Peter’s room to look into Loki’s terrarium. 

“Huh,” he said a little surprised after noticing Loki’s poorly chosen hiding place. “He left you home again?” Ben crouched down in front of the enclosure to get a better look at the hiding snake. 

Loki just kept himself held in a tight ball as he watched the man through the wood chips. 

“He’s starting to grow up isn’t he,” Ben sighed as he took a glance at the rest of Peter’s room. “Watch out, he might change your name again,” Ben joked. Peter had a hard time keeping the secret that he started calling his snake Loki. They tried to get Peter to call him something else but Peter didn’t budge and stuck to Loki’s true name.

“He’s definitely growing up,” Ben said quietly, but there was something complicated in his tone that Loki couldn't quite identify but at the same time completely understood.

After that Uncle Ben stood up, lightly patted the top of the terrarium, then walked out the door. Loki was left wondering what that whole interaction was about. 

~

That evening Peter must have gone straight from school to one of the fighting tournaments without him. 

Loki was furious. Yeah sure Peter can take care of himself now with his new abilities, but Loki still felt responsible for the boy. And hated not knowing what trouble he knew the kid would get into. 

But it was here that he could see how, once again, Peter was proven to be horrible at subtlety. Loki could hear Uncle Ben and Aunt May talking in the living room. 

“We need to talk to him about this,” May said, worried, “He can’t be running around on the streets after dark. Sneaking in and out of the house. I just- And we don't even know what he’s doing out there!” 

“I know,” Ben said, sounding tired. “We just have to be careful about this. We do this wrong and we might push him further into whatever he’s doing.” 

“I don’t want to lose him,” May sniffed, her voice wet with tears. 

“We won’t… I promise we won't,” Ben tried reassuring her. 

~

It was nearly an hour after overhearing that conversation, the bedroom window quietly slid open. After crawling in, Peter then closed it with a little more force than necessary and when he turned Loki could see bruising on his face. 

“Your back late,” Loki hissed, his displeasure clear in his tone. 

“Not now, Loki,” Peter replied harshly. 

Loki just scoffed, “Of course. I’m simply a nuisance now that you can take care of yourself.”

“Shut up,” Peter replied as he threw his mask in the closet. 

“Or is it the paycheck that’s making you feel so high and mighty,” Loki prodded. 

“They didn’t let me have any of that  _ stupid  _ money!” Peter said a little too loudly.

“Peter?” May called from the living room. 

Although she was the first to say his name, it was Ben who opened the door to Peter’s room. When the lights were on, both gardiens gasped at the sight of Peter’s bruised face.

“And where have you been?” Ben said sternly, but when Loki turned around he could see what was really behind the tone, fear for his child’s wellbeing. 

“I was out, ok,” Peter said harshly as he robotically followed the motion of getting ready for bed. He pulled back his covers then went to the closest to grab pajamas.

“And where exactly were you,” May questioned. 

“Like I said:  _ out, _ ” Peter replied, he had a bundle of clothes in his hands. “Move, please,” Peter said curtly trying to get through the door to the bathroom. 

“No, not until you tell us exactly what’s going on,” Ben said with a firm calm voice, “Do you have any idea how much we worried about you? We tried texting you, calling you. But you didn’t answer and we had no idea where you were!” 

“What the hell does it matter!” Peter snapped, as he threw the clothes he held against the ground. “I wasn’t doing drugs. I didn’t do anything illegal.” 

“It matters because we couldn’t contact you,” May butted in, “What if something happened? What if you were laying in some ditch hurt and you couldn’t call for help? And where did you get those bruises? Did someone beat you up?” 

“Ha! As if,” Peter scoffed, “If you really must know, I was the one who started the fight and I ended it to. Now move,” Peter demanded as he pushed past May and Ben. He might have pushed a little too hard because May ended up falling back against the wall.

“Peter!” Ben shouted. 

Peter winced, and for a split second he looked guilty and regretful, but it was quickly covered by shame filled anger.

“I’m fine,” May quickly said.

“You need to apologize to your Aunt, young man. After that we both deserve some answers from you,” Ben responded. 

“Whatever,” Peter huffed as he threw his clothes to the ground then headed into the living room. 

“And where do you think you're going!?” May made an attempt not to yell, but with rising tempers it was difficult.

“OUT!” Peter shouted, and with that he slammed the front door shut. It was hard enough to knock the picture by the front door off the wall. 

Loki counted exactly three ticks of the clock before May broke the silence with her crying. “We need to go after him,” she sounded devastated. 

“I’ll give him a minute head’s start… I think we all need to cool off,” Ben replied. 

“What’s happening to our boy,” May cried. 

Just like Ben promised, after a minute exactly he went after Peter and Loki was quick to follow. 

Loki took a different route from Ben, knowing that if the two of them were covering different ground he’d be found by one of them faster. So while Ben took the streets Loki was running across the rooftops. He cursed himself for not tagging Peter with a tracking spell when he had the chance, but the thought never occurred to him since they had practically been inseparable. It was a good thing that inseparability gave him a small advantage here. He knew Peter’s preferred spots, some routes he favored, but it seemed Peter’s erratic teenage behavior was putting Loki at a disadvantage. 

Thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of the boy. 

Loki started heading towards a convenient store that Peter liked to frequent six blocks from the apartment. He had to double back to get there but as he jumped a rooftop and neared the store's street he heard the  _ bang  _ of a gunshot.

Loki wouldn’t have even considered it important if it were not for the cry of a familiar voice a few seconds after. Loki’s heart plummeted at the name that was called.

“ _ BEN!”  _

Loki ran. 

Nearing the ledge he quickly jumped off the four story building. He stumbled to the pavement, not used to a fall like that. There was a faint pain in his knee where he hit the ground but he was quick to run towards the heartbreaking cries of the boy he was  _ supposed  _ to be protecting.

There, Peter was on the ground, using his dark hoodie to press against Uncle Ben’s stomach as red poured across the surrounding sidewalk. 

“No! No, please Ben,” Peter cried, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He glanced up at Loki’s fast approach. “Loki! Help him! Please, I- I can’t stop the bleeding. He won't-” His next words were swallowed by sobs. 

“Loki?” Ben rasped, obviously confused. 

Loki dropped to his knees next to Ben as he held his hand’s out trying to think of a spell that might work. 

But there was already so much blood, and Loki now regretted avoiding all his mother’s attempts to improve his healing abilities. 

“Loki,” Ben said with sudden understanding. “Huh, so that’s why you changed his name.”

Hearing his name snapped Loki out of his own panic, he mumbled an old Asgardian spell and his hands glowed a soft golden light as he pressed them against the bullet wound. A horrific realization dawned on him. 

Healing bruises was one thing, but knitting the flesh of a fragile human back together was a completely different ordeal. 

“I don’t know if I-,” Loki’s voice shook as he looked up at Peter. “It’s not working- I can’t,” Loki looked back towards Ben with the genuine fear of loss. “I’m sorry, Ben, it’s not-” 

Peter was now holding Ben’s hand. “Loki, do something,” he pleaded, tears dripping down his cheeks as he cried. 

“I’m trying!” Loki shouted in a panic, the light from his magic glowed a little brighter but there was no use, he was just prolonging a death at this point. “I’m trying, It’s not working, I can’t- I’m not strong enough,” Loki admitted pitifully.

“Boys,” Ben managed, “It’s ok…” 

No. 

Loki refused to accept defeat in something so utterly important. He couldn't let go! Ben was needed! He was loved. His death would stain the hearts of the Midgardians that Loki had come to care about… even his own heart would be tarnished by the loss. 

“It’s  _ ok _ ,” Ben said again as he used his free hand to gently pat Loki’s arm. 

Loki looked from his bloody hands to the eyes of the dying man. His vision grew blurry and he immediately blinked it away. He could feel something cold fall down his cheek, but he chose to ignore it. 

“I-” Loki began, “I’m sorry,” He said as he slowly released the magic that was prolonging the man’s suffering.

“Ben,” Peter whimpered. Ben could only look at Peter with a soft smile. 

Loki watched as the light faded from Ben’s eyes, and his grip on then both grew slack. The god accepted the fact that there was nothing he could do, so he pulled his hands away from the bloody wound and in a quiet, unsteady voice he said, “Rest easy, my friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have lied about it being fun lol
> 
> Anyways
> 
> I would like to thank Alero (The_shadow_of_a_fool) and Sheireen94 for the little bit about the heating mat and the heat rock. The shop owner was neglectful so he gets a reason for such a frowned upon practice but Peter being the cinnamon roll that loves knowledge would do his research and find that a heating mat stuck under the tank is much safer for the creature. 
> 
> Even talking pet snakes deserver proper care.


	7. Age 15

Swinging, twisting, and turning, Peter was practically flying through the streets of New York on his newly developed webbing. 

With one final big swing, he released the web at the top of the ark. He soared through the sky landing perfectly in a crouched position on top of a pointed water tower. His breath was heavy with excitement as he grinned under his mask. Peter looked over as a black and gold hawk like bird the size of a pigeon landed on his shoulder.

The bird puffed up it’s feathers and shook them out with annoyance, Peter just laughed. “Enjoy the flight?” 

“No,” Loki cawed. “Feather’s are extremely uncomfortable, if you must know. I much prefer being a snake.”

“No one said you had to be a bird,” Peter shrugged as he looked off at the cityscape. It felt great being up so high there was an amazing sense of freedom that accompanied it.

“A _snake_ can’t exactly follow you around while you're swinging through the city like an enabled monkey,” Loki was able to nip at Peter’s ear through the mask he wore.

“Ouch! Behave!” Peter said as he tried to shove the annoying bird off his shoulder, but he fluttered into the air before Peter could even graze a feather. Loki landed on Peter’s head and pecked him while letting out a cackle of a laugh at Peter’s annoyance. 

“Patrolling is boring! Let's go home already!” Loki cawed. 

“Alright fine,” Peter laughed, “But not because you want to!... I got homework.” 

Loki hopped off Peter’s head before gliding down to an antenna to perch on. “Lier. You just had an algebra test today, that means no homework Wednesdays. Now let's move it! I think I spotted a discarded DVD player a few blocks from where you lazily hid your bag,” the bird dove off the antenna and down the alleyway. Peter quickly followed and as he swung after him, he could hear the disguised god mutter “I swear, if it weren’t for my charms a thief would claim your bag.” 

And because Peter was feeling particularly mischievous, he repaid Loki’s nagging by shooting a glob of webbing at Loki during one of his swings.

Of course Loki spotted it in time, and with a perfectly aimed swipe of his tail feathers, he disintegrated the web with a flash of green magic. “Amature,” he muttered.

Peter smiled brightly under his mask. He couldn’t think of anything that would ruin his mood today.

~

Of course he had to jinx himself. 

After getting his normal clothes back on and finding that DVD player Loki spotted, when Peter finally got to the floor of his apartment building he should have known something was wrong when he spotted the fancy car parked out from. 

“Hey, May,” Peter said as he pushed through the front door of the apartment. 

“Hey Peter,” May said brightly. “How was school today?

He was going through the motions of getting home. Shoes by the door, key’s back in the key bowl, he even set the DVD player on the table so he could hook it up to the main TV later. But through all this, he didn’t notice how Loki tightened his grip on Peter’s forearm where he was coiled in his snake form. 

“Good actually!” Peter replied, “Hey, did you see that crazy car parked out front-” It was then that he finally looked towards Aunt May where she sat on the living room couch. There, on the couch with her, was Tony Stark. Peter froze looking wide eyed. 

The first thought running through his head was that somehow the Avengers found out where Loki was and they were here to take him. Peter quickly noticed that Mr. Stark wasn’t wearing the Iron Man suit so Peter could probably take him… unless the suit was hidden. Even so maybe he could give Loki enough time to run. Countless ideas rushed through Peter’s head as he tried to think of something that might save Loki, but it was all grinded to a halt when Tony Stark finally spoke. 

“Hello, Mr. Parker,” The man said with a smug smile.

“Hey… I’m Peter,” The moment he said that, he was already kicking himself with out stupid it was. “What are you doing here?” Peter added, he was already acting like an idiot might as well fall back on the classic ‘play dumb’ tactic.

“Well, it’s about time we met, you’ve been getting my emails right?” Mr. Stark replied, winking at him. 

Peter frowned, how he was just really confused. He wanted him to play along? Play along with what? “Um, yeah?” He replied nervously.

“Peter! Why didn’t you tell me about the grant?” May quickly asked.

There was a grant now too? Why did May look so excited? Wait, where were the other avengers if they were here to capture Loki? Was anyone actually after Loki?

“Um, you know,” ‘because I didn’t know it existed either’ what was Peter was mentally finishing that sentence as.

“Obviously he wanted to surprise you,” Mr. Stark filled in. “So good news, I approved the grant. Speaking of... Hey, it was absolutely lovely talking to you but do you mind if I have five minutes with him?” He asked May. 

“Oh, of course!” May said quickly, despite Peter mentally pleading for her to say no.

So that’s how Peter ended up standing in his room babbling to Mr. Stark about how he never filled out a grant as he held the snake on his arm close to his chest with his other hand covering him. He didn’t appreciate how quiet Loki was being even though he was acting the exact same as he always does when Peter is talking with other people. 

Eventually Mr. Stark interrupted his rambling by pointing to Loki’s open cage, “What’s this? There supposed to be something living there?” 

“That? That’s nothing that’s just my… um… pet snake’s enclosure. His name is… um, Anakin...” Peter panicked, he couldn't just _say_ his snake’s name was Loki to an avenger. He was never so glad to have given Loki a name before he knew who he really was.

“Please tell me Darth Vader isn't loose around here somewhere,” Mr. Stark said with wide eyes as he glanced around the room. 

“No no he’s-” Peter looked down at his arm. He could feel Loki slither up his jacket sleeve and stick his head out the collar. Peter went with it, “He’s here,” Peter said as he booped Loki’s nose with his finger. 

“You just let it crawl around you like that?” Mr. Stark almost sounded disturbed by the fact. And honestly that was the most normal thing about the conversation. Over the years he’s had many people show their disgust and worry about letting some reptile like a snake hang around him so casually and Peter’s learned to respond to all those comments easily.

“He’s well trained, plus reptiles love the body heat. He usually naps most the time, he’s really not a bother,” Peter shrugged. 

“Riiiight, fake grants and snakes aside, let's get to why I’m really here,” With one last glance at the snake, Mr. Stark pulled out his phone to display a video.

Strangely enough when Mr. Stark pulled up the footage of Spider-Man Peter was incredibly relieved. Even if it led to Mr. Stark knowing Peter was Spider-Man, it was a much better secret to lose than the fact that his pet snake was the person that threw Tony Stark off his own building while unknowingly under the effects of the mind stone. 

Yeah, Peter made sure to have that conversation with Loki when he first found out. He was relieved to hear that Loki’s plot against the Earth wasn’t his own idea. 

“So who else knows?” Mr. Stark asked, “Anybody?” 

“I mean, just Anakin,” Peter really didn’t want to lie to Mr. Stark but thankfully the man took it as a joke. 

“But seriously, not even your aunt?” He asked.

“No, absolutely not! She would freak out,” Peter said quickly. Loki was now coiled loosely around Peter’s neck. He was obviously showing off, which Peter was having a hard time not laughing about it as Mr. Stark continued asking him questions about Spider-Man, though, would keep a cautious eye on Peter’s ‘pet snake.’

“I gotta know,” He asked as the mini interrogation ended. “Why are you doing this? What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?” Mr. Stark asked, the Tone a little more serious. 

“Because…” Peter sighed, he closed his eyes for a moment with the flash of his last memory of Ben, “because I’ve had these powers for like, a year now, and I’ve noticed that when you can do the things that I can but you don’t, and _then_ the bad things happen… they happen because of you.” Peter let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when he looked up to see that Mr. Stark understood. Peter couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, but there was just something in the man’s eyes that told him he knew exactly what Peter meant. Not just in concept, but experience. 

“Have you ever been to Germany, kid?” Mr. Stark eventually said. 

Loki hissed obviously not approving of Mr. Stark’s offer but Peter was kinda strong armed into the spontaneous international field trip anyways. To be fair, he really didn’t try that hard to turn him down. 

It was only after Mr. Stark finally left his room to talk more with May about the trip and Peter was packing his bags that Loki finally spoke. 

“What in god’s name do you think you're doing!?” Loki exclaimed. “You know he’s using you right? He came here for the soul purpose of dragging you into his problems and using you like a gullible pawn!” 

“Even if that was true, I can’t just say no to him!” Peter whispered loudly, he couldn’t risk Mr. Stark over hearing him. “He’s Iron Man! And he needs help and if I can do a good job about this then maybe… well…” Peter trailed off. 

“You could be a part of the Avengers?” Loki scoffed, “I don’t know if you noticed the news lately, but the Avengers aren’t exactly in good standing with the rest of the world now.”

“You're just mad because they kicked your butt,” Peter huffed in annoyance as he pulled Loki out from under his jacket to set him on the bed so he didn’t have to deal with the snake hissing into his ear so much. 

“It has nothing to do with that!” Loki huffed. “Peter, you are better than the Avengers. You don’t need them, and they certainly don’t deserve you!” Loki had slithered over to Peter’s suitcase so he could be in the way as Peter tried to pack. 

He did his best to work around the snake but he was mostly there to be more of a nuisance then to actually stop Peter from packing, still, it was getting on his nerves. “I want to help people, Loki! To use my powers to make a difference in this world With the Avengers I can do that!”

“So what, the car crashes you prevent doesn’t save anybody? Stopping those muggings _certainly_ didn’t improve anyone’s life,” Loki said sarcastically. “Do those people not count?”

As Loki talked Peter just grew more defensive. Though he wasn’t entirely sure why. “Look, I doubt someone like _you_ could understand,” Peter snapped. He grabbed the final handful of clothes and chucked them into the suitcase before pushing Loki out of the way and slamming the list shut. 

Loki was uncharacteristically quiet as Peter zipped up the bag.

“I may not be as proactive in heroism,” Loki began in a low voice, “but at least I’m trying to be better. I thought at the very least you’d count that as something.” 

Peter closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He crossed the line, he knew it, and it was a horrible thing to say especially since Loki really was a different person now compared to when they first met. “You’re right… I’m sorry,” his voice softened. “It’s just this could be a big opportunity for me. Not just as Spider-Man but for my career too. You saw how impressed he was with my webbing.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that he’s obviously using you,” Loki replied. “But fine. This is your choice in the end and you already know my opinion about it. So if there’s no stopping you then I’m going with you. I don’t trust him and I don’t want you getting hurt because of his hubris.”

“Thank you, Loki,” Peter said as he pulled the snake into an unconventional hug. 

“Don’t strangle me!” Loki hissed. 

~

After saying his many goodbyes to May under the illusion that he was simply going up state, Peter took a long drive with Tony’s head of security, Happy, who was easily irritated by Peter’s ‘childish antics.’ That was Loki’s explanation at least why a man who was called ‘Happy’ was acting the opposite. 

Sneaking Loki onto the plane was a whole lot easier then Peter thought it would be. He’d only been to the airport a few times with his parents when he was younger, but even then it was enough to remember that there was usually a _ton_ of security. This time, however, Happy just drove up to the gate letting them through without even a baggage check. Peter made sure to have his phone out to record everything, even if he couldn’t show it to anyone, he sure didn’t want to ever forget this. 

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a plane,” Peter said with nervous excitement. 

“Good news is if we fall out of the sky I can probably save you,” Loki replied.

“Probably?” Peter squeaked.

Loki laughed, “You’ll be fine, Peter.” 

“Who’re you talking to?” Happy asked from the other side of the plain. 

“Uhmm… Nobody?” Peter cleared his throat “Nobody,” he repeated more confidently. “Just making a video.” 

“Oh… you know you can’t show that to anyone right?” Happy replied. 

“Yeah, I know,” Peter said as he pointed the camera back out the window of the plain as it started to move towards the runway. 

Of course after take off as per unspoken rule between Peter and Loki, they had to get up to a little mischief… and seeing as Happy was literally the only other person on the plane. (“There’s no pilot! How cool is that!”) He was the unfortunate victim of their plots on the five hour long flight.

“So I know it has something to do with Captain America going crazy and all but what exactly am I here in Berlin for?” Peter asked absently. The camera was still rolling, and Loki was popping his head out of Peter’s jacket to get a look of the area. 

“You shouldn’t have let your star-struck hit you so hard. Maybe then you could have asked the Man of Iron,” Loki replied. 

“In my defense, half of that was freaking out was because he might’ve been there for you. So not completely my fault,” Peter defended.

“You still should have asked,” Loki muttered as he ducked back into his hiding place as Happy led them into a hotel. 

~

“Wow! This room is so nice!” Peter said looking around.

“A little small for a place so expensive…” Loki muttered, “Look over in that door.” 

“What, the closet?- Oh my god! Is this still my room!?” Peter said awestruck.

“You are so easily impressed,” Loki remarked fondly. With the discovery of a bigger space, Peter set Loki on the second bed. As he gravitated towards the large silver case on the coffee table. 

In a faint flash of green light, Loki shifted to his Asgardian form. Over the years he’s opted for more casual clothes, even if the term was relative. A nice suit, in his opinion, was casual compared to his war gear. He lounged across the bed as he stretched his back. “What’s that?” He asked when he finally looked up to see what Peter was inspecting. 

Peter plucked up the crisp white card set on top of the box. “A minor upgrade?” He said after reading the card “T. S. Huh, wonder what it is.” Those would be the last words Peter spoke for the next twenty minutes as his communications skills devolved into excited squeaks, and the occasional “Whoa!” Eventually he just started repeating the sentence “This is awesome!”

Loki was somewhat relieved to know that Peter wasn’t going into this ‘mystery mission’ with his usual suit. The hoodie and sweats were hardly suitable armor, and despite Peter having enhanced durability, he still didn’t want the teen to be thrown into dangerous situations without protection. Even if he didn’t trust Stark, he knew the man was the leading mind in human technology and with Peter’s safety concerned, he was willing to put aside his distrust towards the man. 

After gathering up the suit and darting towards the other room, Peter quickly returned with a “Ta-da!” as he excitedly showed off the new suit. Loki was surprised to see that the mask emulated a basic form of expression with its eyes. “What do you think?” Peter asked. 

“Definitely an improvement,” Loki said sitting up. “But in my opinion, there’s not enough black in the coloring. Too much red,” he teased.

He could see Peter’s eye roll in the suit’s eyes. “You only say that because you got a thing against red.” 

“Hm, and I wonder why that would be,” Loki replied. 

“Ya know, I was kinda thinking about that…” Peter said casually, but Loki could sense the serious topic. “I… don’t really think he’d be that angry with you. Probably doesn't even hate you like you think he might,” Peter fidgeted with the web shooters on his wrists as he spoke.

Loki was the type that would deflect topics like that. He’s not one to face his demons head on but Peter was often so direct with his questioning that it was difficult to find a reason not to answer.

So he would be forever grateful for Happy Hogan's timing. The man walked in and Loki instinctively turned back into a snake. 

“You got the suit? You ready?” Happy said quickly, but his eyes were drawn to where Peter was looking and he jumped back in shock, “Jesus Christ how did that get in here.” Happy’s immediate reaction was to grab the tall lap next to him and point it at the black snake on the bed.

Loki was going to be generous and repay Happy’s good timing with the fact that he _didn’t_ get cursed for his disgusted reaction at seeing Loki in his snake form.

Peter panicked slightly, “No no, don’t hurt him!” Peter jumped in front of Happy to prevent him from throwing the lamp which he now held like a spear. “He’s mine, I brought him from home. He’s not dangerous, I promise.” 

Loki chuckled mentally at the blatant lie. He slithered to the edge of the bed like the loyal and obedient pet he often pretended to be as he reached towards Peter with his head in an indication that he wanted to be picked up. In the beginning it was somewhat demeaning to act like such a simple creature, but eventually it turned into something of an inside joke for the two. There was a sort of novelty in the fact that Peter could seemingly command something like Loki, even if everyone else didn’t suspect the little black snake to be the god of mischief. 

Peter was quick to hold out his hand to the snake as he let it slither up his hand and curl around his forearm.

“You- You smuggled your snake into Germany,” Happy said with confusion and disbelief. 

“Well, if you ask my teachers they’d tell you this is a recurring misconduct,” Peter muttered. 

Happy just blinked a few times, still holding the lamp with his stance intact. Loki had just noticed he yanked the plug out of the wall and it hung in the air swinging like the tail of an anxious cat. Another second passed and Happy’s brain quickly caught up with the situation. Loki applauded him seeing as most times it took a little longer to process the ridiculousness that often accompanied Peter. 

“Find a box or something to put it in, we gotta go and you shouldn’t be carrying it around,” He replied quickly as he set the lamp down and tried to find something in the hotel room to put him in. He grabbed the empty ice bucket and a large book. “Here.” 

“What? No! I’m not putting him in there,” Peter said going into experienced pet owner mode. “That thing is insulated and there’s no way he’d get any heat in there.” 

Happy just threw his hands up in the air, “Fine, there's a tissue box! Tissue box will work right?” He said as he dropped the ice bucket and grabbed the tissue box gutting it of all its tissues. 

Peter frowned, and his spider mask’s eyes furrowed, “But that’s too small for him.” 

Loki knew Peter wasn’t doing this on purpose, before he even knew his pet snake was Loki and though he was just some kind of magic talking snake he took his role as a pet owner very seriously. Something that never quiet went away now that the secret was revealed. 

In the end Peter just kept Loki around his arm like he’d usually be when they traveled and Peter wasn’t wearing his jacket, as Happy led them down to the employees elevator and into the parking garage. “I’ll just get a box after I drop you off,” Happy mumbled. 

But Loki and Peter both knew that Loki was never going to see the inside of the box. He was already planning to create an illusion of a snake for Happy to hold, it would disappear the second the man looked away. It was only a shame that they couldn't see Happy’s panic when he thought there was a snake loose in his car. 

~

Peter met with Tony again and he finally explained what was going on. Though Loki wasn’t too happy with the vagueness of it.

“We’re just going to arrest Rogers. All you gotta do is swing in, web up his hands, and if things escalate just keep your distance and web em’ up.” 

Loki, who was shifted into his bird form, was starting to get nervous for Peter. The desperation in Tony’s eyes, the lack of information, and the potentially volatile situation where two brothers in arms now pitted against each other lead to disastrous results in Loki’s experience.

But he chose the life of a spectator, things would only get more complicated if he revealed himself. So he watched everything unfold. At least, that was the plan, until he was forced to step in.

At first Peter was doing amazingly. His experience as Spider-Man with the addition of Loki’s teachings of basic combat. He could take both the enhanced Winter Soldier, and the new avenger, Falcon, with relative ease. But even with his abilities, experience in heated battle often prevailed above all else and this whole conflict was a skirmish at best.

But Loki didn’t want to risk it. 

With his limited magic, he was able to tip the balance for Peter. They handled the two quickly and both were restrained to the ground by webbing before they could even make it halfway through the corridor. 

But perhaps that might have been a mistake. Peter’s excitement at the small victory caused him to rush to the aid of Iron Man as he faced off against the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye. 

Loki knew Hawkeye. He’d seen into his mind as they were both under the effects of the mind stone. He knew the man’s impressive abilities with a bow and arrow. 

So when he shot at Iron Man and _missed._ Loki knew something was wrong. 

Spider-Man was mid swing when Loki yelled “Peter, above you!”

But instead of evading the incoming rain of vehicles, Peter used the momentum of his swing to kick Iron Man out of the way. 

~

Time travel was a fickle thing. Simple changes in the past can cause disastrous futures, or in this case, the death of a little girl's entire family at the hands of Stark weaponry. 

Nothing was worse than lying still under a bed in fear for hours as you wondered if you lived or died, than holding your twin brother in your arms for a matter of minutes as you watched his life slowly fade. 

Wanda Maximoff grew up with a vengeful heart. For years all that rage was targeted towards one man.

So when that man stood on the opposing side for the second time in her life, she was already filled with so much anger and frustration at the current events that she used her abilities to not only throw a few cars at him, but topple the entire building over. 

Yet, she could have never accounted for a young hero named Spider-Man to kick Tony Stark to safety, and take his place at the target of the countless thousands of tons of rubble. 

~

Loki didn’t even consider the oncoming consequences of his action. The only thing that ran through his mind was the fact that he was about to lose another person he cared about. 

With the agility of an Asgardian Nighthawk, Loki shot towards Peter like a speeding bullet. 

Just as the teen hit the ground with a heavy thud, Loki appeared in full armor in a shocking flash of green. In the split second before the rubble buried them, the entire battlefield could see the familiar villain.

“Holy shit!”

“Loki!” 

“Loki?!”

“What the hell is he doing here?”

Peter had fallen on his back after he dropped out of the sky using his swing to kick Iron Man free of the attack. He looked up in shock at the gold barrier that surrounded him. Loki was above him, his arms stretched out and his fingers splayed as he forced his energy into keeping up the integrity of the protective dome. He was forced down on one knee after the full weight of the debris came down on them. 

“No, no, no! Loki, what have you done!” Peter said in a panic as he looked around at the shifting magic around him, “They saw you! Why did you do that? You should have stayed hidden!”

“If- if I did nothing,” He said, struggling. He wasn’t used to this type of magic and it was incredibly draining. “You would have died. I won’t just stand by. Not again.” 

“I would have been fine! You didn’t have to-” Peter yanked off his mask. His eyes fearful of the prospects of losing his friend. 

“There’s at least eight feet and countless tons of stone and steel above us. No, you would have not been fine,” Loki interrupted. 

“But-” There was a crackle of a panicked voice from Peter’s mask that interrupted him. Peter winced as he lifted the mask hesitantly before pulling it on.

“-answer me!” the voice said in a panic. 

“Mr. Stark?” Peter replied with a sniff. 

“Peter! Jesus Christ, what's going on?! Are you hurt? Hang in there, we’re getting you out.” Mr. Stark asked quickly. “Whatever you do, don’t trust a word out of that bastard's mouth,” they could hear the scraping and shifting of concrete above them. “Nothing for six years and now he shows up!”

Peter stiffened at Mr. Stark’s reaction, “Um, yeah I’m fine Mr. Stark.” Peter let out a breath and looked up at Loki, as if asking for permission for something, he wasn’t even sure what. Loki nodded anyways. “Loki… he’s holding up some kind of force field to keep us from getting crushed.” Peter closed his eyes as he prepared for the reaction of his next words. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” he swallowed, “I brought him here.”

There was a long stretch of silence, Peter worried the connection cut out until Mr. Stark finally said “You did what now?” His question was surprisingly calm. But like the calm before a storm there was a raging danger behind it. 

“I brought Loki here,” Peter said again. “He was disguising himself as my pet snake.”

“We are going to be talking about this later.” Mr. Stark said coldly. 

Loki could almost see Peter’s heart shatter as he yanked his mask off again. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess,” Peter snuffed as he looked up at Loki, his eyes wet with unshed tears. 

“I chose to go with you, remember? It was my own actions that led me here,” Loki could feel the weight from above lessening as the minutes passed. They didn’t have much longer. 

Peter practically dove over to the god as he wrapped his arms around him to hug him tightly. “They’re going to take you away.” 

“Most likely, yes,” Loki sighed.

“What’s going to happen to you?”

He couldn’t lie to Peter, so he told him the truth, “I let Heimdall see me. Eventually Thor will be sent down and I’ll be handed over to him to face my sentence in Asgard…” 

“Is there any way I can speak for you?” Peter asked quickly. “Tell them you’ve changed!” 

“I doubt anyone would listen,” Loki said softly. 

Sunlight broke through above them, breaking the calming soft glow of the magic barrier with a harsh ray reminding them of the reality they were about to face. Peter pulled away from Loki to put his mask back on. Loki could hear the familiar whirr of Iron Man charging a blast. When it was shot the golden barrier shattered and Loki crumpled from exhaustion. It was a powerful spell, and he probably over did it, but it was the only one he _knew_ would work. 

His hands stung as he used them to sit up. He watched as the one with the silver Iron Man suit ushered Peter away, while Iron Man himself stood with his entire arsenal at the ready. “I’ve had a rough day, so please, give me a reason,” the man warned. 

Loki held his hands up, they dripped with his own blood. He had no energy or will to fight. He knew his hiding was over. “Then I won't give you one,” Loki said, defeated. 

“Don’t hurt him, please!” Peter said from a distance. 

“No no no, you don’t get to talk!” Stark scolded. “Not until later when you explain exactly how you ended up with _Loki_ as your house guest.”

Stark cautiously approached Loki, “Hand’s behind your back,” He commanded. Loki did as he was told. Stark circled him then grabbed both his wrists in a harsh grip before clamping his wrist together with something cold and sharp. 

“You’ve crossed the fucking line involving the kid,” Stark practically snarled. With a sharp jerk of the hand cuffs, Stark yanked Loki onto his feet and pulled him out of the rubble. 

The fighting was over. Loki simply watched passively as the half of the Avengers present were arrested, his expression only changed to a small moment of sadness when he noticed Peter was nowhere in sight.


	8. Judgment

Loki was taken to something called the Raft with the other fugitives. It was a large floating structure in the middle of the sea that was supposed to house Earth’s strongest villains… but with how well prepared they were to contain the ex-Avengers, and how poorly unprepared they were to contain Loki, he had suspicions that it was never actually meant for the bad guys. 

“So… You’re Loki,” Said a man who Loki believed called himself Ant-Man. “You’re not that tough looking now are you?”

He was in the next cell over, but Loki wasn’t in much of a position to make conversation seeing that his mouth was covered with a similar gag Thor had used all those years ago. Except this one was made of Midgardian tech and not nearly as effective since it would take very little power to take it off. 

His wrists were bound with a new set of restraints that also had a chain connected to his ankles and his hands were roughly bandaged. His wounds were not covered out of any courtesy, but to simply keep him from making a mess. They were happy to scrape up any blood and tissue samples they could get their greedy hands on. Were they aware that he wasn’t biologically Asgardian? No matter, when Thor finally got here it would be simple enough to cause the samples to disintegrate remotely. 

Loki also wasn’t too keen on the ugly blue scrubs he was forced to wear but if it made them feel better that he wasn’t wearing his armor then so be it. 

Not that it made any difference. 

They might have him gagged, bound, and caged but Loki was still the only one with the real power. He still had the space stone tucked away in his little pocket universe. And even without it he could escape with his own power anytime he wanted.

But if he ran now, it would only prove that his self-exile meant nothing… that his time protecting and learning from Peter meant nothing. 

So he waited.

But before Thor would show up. A group of guards walked over to Loki’s cell.

There was one thing he didn’t mention to Peter about what was going to happen. 

Human’s do enjoy their interrogation when they think they have the upper hand. The only problem was Loki wasn’t sure how ‘intensive’ that interrogation was going to be.

He sure didn’t trust Iron Man, but at least he had human decency, but this Ross character that smugly sat himself at the opposite side of the table, there was nothing but a dark power hungry greed in his eyes.

Loki’s gag was removed, but he chooses not to speak. Instead he kept his attitude that nothing about this bothered him. He could see it in the falter of Ross’ smug smile that his apathy was effective.

“Why did you show up at the airport?” The man asked.

Loki was a little surprised at the question, but he didn’t let it show. He was relieved to know that Stark was watching out for the kid’s wellbeing. With the kid’s abilities and his association to Loki there was no telling what the government would do to him. 

So with that in mind it was easy to answer with a completely unrelated comment, “Vibranium.” Loki let a small grin spread across his face, “What a wonderful thing, it has so many uses.”

The questioning would continue for another hour but they got nothing from him. Everything he said was vague and some down right unrelated, but Peter had once bet that Loki couldn’t go a week without telling a lie. Loki was down for the challenge, and after realizing how much more fun it was he decided to extend the bet a little longer… that was over a year ago and he certainly wasn’t going to let this Ross guy break his winning streak. 

He was a little surprised at the lack of torture, but perhaps they thought they had more time. The Raft certainly wasn’t prepared for the visit from the God of Thunder.

Ross left him in the interrogation room, even Loki was surprised at Thor’s timely arrival seeing that the Bifrost was still destroyed. But he supposed his father would want Loki brought back to Asgard as quickly as possible so they must have found another way.

His booming voice was the first thing Loki heard of his brother. 

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little nervous about how Thor might react to seeing him after so long. Even if the time was miniscule compared to their lifespan it was still significant.

The door burst open. Thor was here on business, so it was no surprise to see him in his armor with his hammer in hand. It was difficult to read the intense expression on his face.

Loki shifted awkwardly. “Brother,” Loki finally said in a sort of greeting. There was no malice to it like he used to use, not even a hint of jealousy. If anything, it sounded like he missed Thor. 

Which was a surprise even to himself and it was most certainly a surprise to Thor. 

Thor knitted his eyebrows together as he looked him over and Loki wasn’t sure if it was confusion or a scowl. Thor finally approached. He set his hammer on the table as he circled around to stand next to Loki’s chair. 

Loki quickly stood up to face his brother. 

“What are you planning?” Thor asked in a low commanding tone.

“What are you talking about?” Loki said with a sharp grin. Old habits die hard, and antagonizing his brother was one he never got around to fixing.

“These primitive chains can’t hold you. We both know that. You’re here because you want to be,” Thor replied. “So the question is: Why?”

Loki looked into Thor’s eyes. He could see the heartbreak caused by Loki’s actions, the longing for their brotherhood that Loki had rejected, and the hope that perhaps, maybe, Loki would come back to him.

The sense was so strong, it was the reason he always hated looking into his brother's eyes. Loki was forced to look away, but unlike before when he didn't care about his brother’s feelings, now it was out of shame for being the one to cause such negative emotions.

Thor took a step back, his eyes wide with wonder, “Somethings changed in you.”

Uncomfortable with the scrutiny of not only Thor, but the men behind the one way glass and the cameras watching them diligently, Loki waved his hand. In a sudden flash of magic his restraints were gone and his blue scrubs were traded out of his usual green and black clothes. “Let’s just go home,” he said calmly as he walked over to the interrogation room door and pushed it open. He reveled in the panic he could sense from the outsiders observing. 

Thor’s face burst into a grin, “It seems you time on Midgard has done you good.” He replied as he followed Loki out. 

On their way to the top, Loki couldn't help but notice that Iron Man was nowhere in sight, and the soldiers here were putting up an effort to keep Thor from seeing any sign that some of his previous teammates were being held captive here. Unfortunately, the hard truth was this Midgardian conflict was theirs and theirs alone. He could see Thor thinking it was unjust, but for an outsider like him entering the playing field, it would only cause more chaos. So he kept quiet. 

When they emerged topside, Thor looked over at Loki expectantly. “I was hoping we could return with the help of the tesseract.”

“Yes, I assumed back alley black magic isn’t the most comfortable means of transportation,” Loki said as he looked over at Ross who was watching them from a distance. Armed men surrounded them and Loki gave a large smug grin as he held his hand out and summoned the tesseract. He taunted the man with it, knowing very well that he was questioning Loki for that very object not twenty minutes ago. 

Thor put his hand on Loki’s shoulder, then in the next instance, Loki gave the command to the tesseract and they were shifting through space. They landed on the fractured rainbow bridge of Asgard. Loki looked up at the magnificent city, he missed it dearly, but he knew that this was no welcome home party. 

He was here to face the judgment of Oden. 

Hopefully his willingness to return would ease his sentence. 

Thor led the way, Loki followed closely with the tesseract still in hand. 

“Loki, before we meet father, can I ask you something?” Thor slowed to walk side by side with him. 

“Might as well,” Loki replies. 

“Before, during the Chitauri attack. How much of that was you-“

“And how much was the mind stone?” Loki finished. 

“Yes.”

Loki sighed, “It did alter my thoughts and make everything that much easier to go along with but I don’t know if I can blame all of my crimes on the stone. It amplified and twisted what I felt, but those thoughts were still my own.” 

There was a long stretch of silence after that, it wasn’t until they were on the palace steps that Thor said, “I hope father considers your time on Midgard while judging your fate.”

Loki just gave a small nod before he looked down at the tesseract he still held in his hands. His brother trusted him enough to walk the rainbow bridge and the path to the palace with it. Even now, if he really wanted to, he could use its power to escape. 

But he knew that would be counterproductive and would make the past 6 years worthless if he didn’t actually learn anything from it. He owed Peter more than that. 

Loki walked into the throne room, Thor trailing behind him.

He looked up to see Oden sitting on his throne. His expression was unreadable, even his eye was guarded by a strong natural magic. But his gaze held a heavy weight on Loki’s shoulders. 

Loki swallowed as he looked up at Oden, waiting for the king to speak.

“You come here of your own volition, after spending six years on Earth. Explain?” Oden asked.

Loki could make things worse, he could be sarcastic and defensive with his usual hit of entitlement, But was that reaction true to who he was now? 

“At first it was to simply hide but fate seemed to have a lesson in store for me. I have… been humbled by my experiences.”

“Of taking care of the Midgardian boy?” Odin replied, his face remained unreadable.

Loki looked up surprised, “You know of him?”

“Although you hide yourself from Himedel, you did not hide the boy,” Odin continued. 

“You knew where Loki was all this time?” Thor butted in. “Why wasn't I aware of this?” 

“Would you have been able to stop yourself from going after him?” Odin asked knowingly as he raised an eyebrow.

Thor paused, “No, father,” He eventually said.

“Just as during your own banishment to Midgard, I had hoped that this chance encounter would do the same to Loki,” Odin looked down at Loki, “And seeing as he has chosen to come here unbound and with the tesseract as tribute. That hope was not misplaced.”

Loki felt like a weight was pulled off his shoulder, but in his father’s next words it showed his actions were not completely without consequences simply because of a change of heart. 

“Despite this, you still must atone for your crimes,” Odin added. “Because of your past schemes to take the throne, it has come to my attention that there are ways into Asgard that neither I nor the all seeing Himedale were aware of. For the safety of her people, you will work with the guard to find and secure these faults in Asgard’s defenses. And until all pathways have been secured, you will remain here. This is your penance,” With that, the king of Asgard finally smiled down at his youngest. “Welcome home, Loki.” 

And for once, in a very long time, Loki was actually glad to be there. 


	9. Epilogue

Peter was in so much trouble with Mr. Stark after the whole reveal. He was sent home quickly after that things only got worse through a series of bad judgment calls on Peter’s part causing May to catch him sneaking in while in the Spider-Suit. This was barely a week after his trip to Germany. 

If Loki was still there he would have cast a charm or spell to make Peter’s action’s soundless. That was only one of the many things that Peter missed without him. But honestly he never really cared about any of that, what he missed the most was having his best friend around. 

After May found out about one secret it was she was quick to notice Loki missing, and Peter didn’t have the heart to lie to her anymore. So, he told her the real reason why his “pet snake” was missing. She was a lot more freaked out about that and the Spider-Man thing practically paled in comparison. At one point May started thinking that Loki gave him his powers. Peter was quick to dispute that and told her it was his own fault that a radioactive spider bit him. He could tell she didn't quite believe him and it became one of the many topics that they had to set aside or else they only continued arguing. Air in the apartment became tense with frustration, anger, and worst of all, May’s sense of betrayal. 

Peter hated it. 

Fortunately, for everyone in the Parker household, some of that turmoil was resolved after a visit from Thor… yes, that Thor. God of Thunder Thor. 

It was weird to see the god dressed so casually, and instead of his fabled hammer in hand, he held an umbrella.

“Peter, who is it?” May called from the kitchen, she had asked him to get the door when the doorbell rang. 

Peter was utterly speechless as he looked up at the massive hero wide eyed.

“Greeting! Are you the Peter I’ve heard so much about?” Thor boomed, a wide smile spread across his face. “May I come in? I have business here concerning my brother.” 

Aunt May finally came over to the door to investigate, she gasped in shock, “Oh my god- I mean goodness? I mean-,” She quickly looked over at Peter, “Why is Thor standing at our door?” She loudly whispered. 

Peter just gave an exaggerated clueless shrug. “He said it has something to do with Loki?” Peter practically squeaked. 

May suddenly schooled her expression, it settled into something of a scowl as she looked up at Thor with a small sigh, “Well, as I’m sure you know he hasn’t lived here for awhile now, so whatever it is he’s done Peter’s had nothing to do with it.” She said, putting on a tough face.

“Ah, no you misunderstand. I am not here about any mischief my brother has been up to. I simply have some items to deliver... and I would like to thank you,” Thor replied.

May looked surprised, “Thank us?” 

“May I come in?” Thor asked again. 

“Oh, where are our manners? Yes, come in!” May said as both her and Peter stepped aside. 

With Thor now standing awkwardly in the entryway, Peter finally spoke the question that’s been on his mind for months “Is- um… Is Loki ok?”

“Loki? Oh! Of course! Father was impressed with the improvements he made while living on Midgard, something we all have you to thank for. So his punishment is not nearly as severe as it would have been,” Thor paused for a moment to think, “I believe he said it was comparable to community service.”

“He destroys Hell’s Kitchen and he gets community service?” May said in disbelief, anger clear in her tone.

“I told you, that wasn’t completely his fault!” Peter said quickly. 

May looked like she was about to protest when Thor spoke up, “Yes, the true culprit of the attack was a Titan named Thanos. Loki was merely a tool that was manipulated while his mine was vulnerable.”

“See,” Peter said looking back at May wide eyed, he had been trying to convince her of Loki’s partial innocence ever since she found out about him.

“He still hid himself here for years without any of us knowing! What if he-” She stopped herself and took a deep breath. “We are not having this argument again,” she looked over at Thor, “Was there anything else you were here for?” 

Thor looked between the parkers awkwardly before clearing his throat, “He wanted me to inform you about his sentence as well as to give you these,” he held out an envelope and a small black velvet pouch to Peter. On the front the letter was addressed to Peter and on the drawstring of the pouch was a little green and gold tag that read ‘ _ Break in case of emergency _ ’ both written in Loki’s perfectly immaculate cursive. Peter opened the pouch first. A round crystal charm that was about the size of a marble, inside it swirled with gold and green magic. Attached to it was a thin cord made of braided leather that would allow him to wear it on his wrist. 

Peter just looked at the swirling magic in wonder. 

“That is enchanted to summon a familiar to help you if you ever get into trouble. Either that or transport your enemy to somewhere called Australia? He wasn’t entirely clear on what it did… Eh, no matter. I’m sure it will be fine,” Thor shrugged. “The letter is something of a thank you for allowing him to seek refuge during his troubled times… voluntary or not,” he said glancing at May, “He was grateful regardless.”

“Oh, thank you,” Peter said, drawing his attention back to the letter as he clinched the charm in hand. He seemed to forget about the fact that Thor was standing in their entry way as he turned away from him looking at the parchment.

The last thing he heard was Thor asking May if he could speak with her alone, something about clearing things up? Peter didn’t really care at this point his full focus was now on the letter.

The envelope felt like it was made from silk with how smooth it was but still had a sturdiness to it. He flipped it over to see the green and gold wax seal with an intricate depiction of a snake on it. The Asgardin style was beautiful and he could almost swear that the thing shifted. He hated to break something so pretty, but his need to hear from his best friends was much stronger.

The paper inside also had an exquisite and otherworldly feeling to it, though he paid little attention this time as his eyes latched onto the words written.

_ Peter,  _

_ Although our first meeting was during a dark time in both our lives, I could never have asked for anything different. We were both lost souls drifting, looking for connection and purpose and by the hand of fate our paths crossed. At the time it may have not been what I wanted, but in the long run it was what I needed.  _

_ You taught me the true meaning of family through the years. Blood never mattered, it was always the connections you cultivate. I wish I could tell you all this in person, but I want you to know that I don’t just consider you my closest friend, but I also see you as a brother. My little, ideotic, brother who throws himself into dangerous situations for the sake of others.  _

_ It’s amazing how you and Thor have that in common. Demons will hide if Spider-Man and Thor ever stand in battle together.  _

_ But although your heroics might match his, I can assure you not even the Mighty Thor can outmatch the size of your heart.  _

_ Your ability to show kindness is astounding. From the smallest tasks for helping elderly women cross the street, to giving away your favorite coat to a man you met sleeping in a box. I have spent five years learning from you yet it would take me lifetimes to witness everything you have to teach me. _

_ I have a lot of work to do here in Asgard, I am unsure when the next time we’ll meet. If you ever get into trouble, you have the charm. _

_ Until we meet again.  _

_ Your friend and brother,  _

_ Loki Odinson  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!! I was so happy to get everything finally posted! There were a few adjustments I had to make to the final chapter and I might be posting some edits here and there (Just catching spelling mistakes and all that, no story changes).


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